The present invention relates to an improved structural support shoe and method of manufacturing such a shoe and more particularly to an improved shoe structure for a ladder and method of manufacturing the same.
It has been long known in the construction art to pivotally mount shoe members on the feet of structural supports, such as ladders and platforms, to insure a stable base for the support members with which the shoes are associated and to allow for adaptation to some of the varying parameters of terrain environment, such as varying surface contour and material composition. In the past each of the shoe members has been formed as one piece from a suitable rigid material--usually by a known sand casting process--or else have been formed from a single appropriately sized and shaped unit of material which is subsequently turned or bent into a desired configuration.
The present invention recognizes that these past shoe manufacturing operations or processes--whether by sand casting or by shaping and subsequently bending to form--have been comparatively inefficient and expensive in both labor and material costs and that the products thereof have had certain limitations as a consequence of the processes involved.
Recognizing these past problems of manufacture and the limitations of the products produced thereby, the present invention provides a shoe manufacturing process and shoe structure which minimizes labor and material costs, which is straightforward and efficient in operation, maintenance and assembly, requiring a minimum of time and operational steps, and which permits the use of readily producible, ductile and high strength materials in homogeneous form with a minimum of bending stresses and material imperfections.
Various other features of the present invention will become obvious to one skilled in the art upon reading the disclosure set forth herein.